Ruby wants Tidal Bay to go for the World Hurdle.

u got it fill u boots

"He'll have an entry for the World Hurdle and for the Gold Cup. The ground will play a big part in it," Nicholls revealed.

"The ground would want to be soft at Cheltenham for him to run in the Gold Cup. It's the quickest track, I think, and it's not necessarily his cup of tea."

I really don`t see a problem with them keeping their options open. Imagine if it was good g/s in places in the GC but soft g/s in places for the World Hurdle. Plenty of method in their madness.

Goes to show what an enigma the horse is.

A top novice 2 miler who had racing pace on good ground, to an out and out stayer who wants easy ground.

He must be one of the most unusual racehorses of all time.

Unless it is soft ground for the GC, then Tidal Bay would take his chance.

He is by no means an error free chaser and with near top weight it would take a huge effort to make the frame in the GN. If he had sneaked under the radar this season on a lenient mark then perhaps.

If he were mine and i had won 33 world hurdles, the Gold Cup would still be my fav race and also the one I would most want to win. He would be competitive in either, but its gotta be gold innit ?

Tidal is having a dream 2012 and u couldnt write him off whereever he took his chance

I would love to see him win the Gold Cup

Incidentally, watching ruby make that comment for the first time just now to the RTE bloke, it wasn't tongue in cheek by any means, no grin or wink or anything like that, you could almost detect the dare I say it in his demeanour, he was squirming a bit at the awkwardness I thought...but he was desperate to get it out.

yep,no worries if jacob rode him.

You could even argue perhaps ( very very tenuous I accept ) that TB was showing signs in the Lexus of getting used to Ruby and that the change back to Jacob might actually not be a bad thing at all.

I'd try something a bit left field with Tidal Bay...warm up schooling session in the World Hurdle and then straight into the Gold Cup the next day. Just the sort of thing to switch to spark this fella up.

quel espirit ran in neptune and albert bartlett but he fell early in first race

I don't for one minute believe Walsh says that 'in the best interests of the horse & owner' as he's spoilt for choice and is clearly feathering his own nest!
Understandably, he's being selfish and wants to win BOTH races but his opinion shouldn't matter - If YOU owned the horse...where would you want to see him go?

In my opinion, he most certainly deserves a crack at the big one and the ground shouldn't come into the reckoning as it WON'T have the word 'firm' in the description!

As long as the ground's not rattling fast, he goes on anything really and has showed incredible durability & versatility the likes of I probably haven't witnessed before.

SIX years ago, I backed him when he threw away the old Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle, and he's still going strong in the top grade though he has had periods where he's been AWOL.

Has there been a higher class of 'rogue' with a Timeform squiggle at the peak of his form?
Bregawn had his when he was all but finished so that doesn't count.

How many horses can you name that've made the grade over hurdles from 2M to 3M+ and over fences from 2M up to the Whitbread trip?
Not even Desert Orchid!

AND the Grand National mightn't be out of the question!
What a super old campaigner and I'd be cheering him on in the Gold Cup & Grand National

Budd - it shouldn't be forgotten (though it seems to be) just how good he was as a novice chaser!

As like most people on here, I'm fascinated by Sprinter Sacre and before last year's Festival, I was doing a bit of homework in comparing the best official ratings before an Arkle and after, going back over 30+ years.

I was surprised to learn that Sprinter Sacre had a higher rating than ANY other 2M novice chaser I could find BEFORE Cheltenham, and furthermore, higher than ANY Arkle WINNER except Tidal Bay!

Some achievement from both horses.

I think they will go for the gold cup with him Ruby just wants his 10% +addons he grown used to in the world hurdle. I for one would cheer him up the hill if he was going on to win, I've spent the last 3-4 years defending the horse and he'd deserve to win it IMO considering all the abuse he's taken.

Owner Graham Wylie insists Tidal Bay will not run in the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup in March "if the ground is good or faster".

The Paul Nicholls-trained 12-year-old looked as good as ever in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas when he secured a pulsating last-gasp victory under Ruby Walsh.

Although the Gold Cup would seem the logical target, Tidal Bay could yet revert to smaller obstacles for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.

"He has always been a good horse and I think things have worked out well for him this season because the ground has been so soft," said Wylie.

"When the ground is faster, he doesn't get himself organised with his jumping.

"I know there is much debate about where he should run, and I am enjoying reading all the different views, but the fact is we just don't know. It is going to be very ground dependant.

"If the ground is good or faster then he won't run in the Gold Cup as we've tried it before and they go too fast for him, but if it was very soft we'd probably give it a go."

Tidal Bay is also under consideration for the John Smith's Grand National at Aintree, but the ground will also play a major part in the final decision.

"It will be the same thing with the National - if the ground is very fast he won't run and if it came up soft then he could do," said Wylie.

"I think it's safe to say he'll have entries in all three races - the World Hurdle, the Gold Cup and the National - and we'll just see how he is and what is happening with the weather closer to the time."

does nicholls have another world hurdle option to stop chemical nikki winning it with oscar whiskey???? just my opinion...